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Competition is absolutely good - I played soccer competitively for years and studied ishunryu karate as well and made it up to brown belt. I love competing and find it immensely rewarding.

That being said - I agree with blues2cruise. Phys ed in school should be able playing games that get you moving and running around. As long as you're getting exercise, what you're playing shouldn't matter.

Well, where to begin.

It all reverts back to the almighty dollar. Generally costs increase every year while budgets are normally cut every year. Now a dollar will only stretch so far before tearing; I know this from experience. So you can't pay teachers less, you can't buy cheaper food, less heat, or lower cost books. But you can cut gym classes, not buy that new exercise equipment, and of course you can fire all the coaching staff and just have Mr. Carlson (you know that fat guy that never got picked for kickball when he was a kid) handle the health classes.

We (responsible parents and adults) cannot control the voting when a millage comes up, nor can we dictate to the school board how it will waste, I mean, spend its money. What we can do is volunteer to coach kids after school and donate some money to the school for that new stair master. Of course this means we *gasp* spend OUR time and money on someone else's problem. Not to mention the inevitable lawsuit that will result when little Jonnie drops a barbell on his foot or sprains his ankle because some volunteer parent really has no cluse how to properly coach or train kids. I know what you're thinking, I would never do that I'm tolerant of other people. Yeah? Remember that when the neighbor's dog bites you, some old lady in front of you gets confused in traffic or you're stuck behind an idiot in the express lane at the grocery store.

Here's another thought while we're at it. People are lazy, we spend enormous amounts of time, money and effert so that we can be even lazier. How many of you would buy a tv that didn't have a remote control? How about a garage door opener? Who actually shovels snow anymore; we just pay the fat neighbor kid $10 to do it. When I'm someplace with an elevator I see people wait minutes so they can go up or down just one floor. Last but not least the self propelled vacuum cleaner. Jesus where will it end?

America is a society based on instant gratification. We want it all but we don't want to have to work for it. Little Jonnie is actually a moron, but we'll just blame the schools for being ineffective not the fact he plays Nintendo for 8 hours each night and ignores his homework. We like to think we are not responsible for our mistakes, there is always some external factor that puts us in the condition we're in. We don't need a regimental calesthenics program crammed down our kids throats at school, but we should at least teach them they will be a product of their decisions in life.

What an entertaining, but high impact thread.

As some of you know, I was born and lived in southeast Asia for half of my childhood. Being it a third world country, we had lots of manual labor ranging from walking to school to fetching our own water for cooking. The only time we had a chance to "relax" i.e. watch TV, was when it is too hot to do perform physical chores or too dark to perform those chores. P.E. was never a subject in our schools. We had plenty of it with routine daily living tasks that unconstructive activity was actually counter productive.

At 10, I came to the States. Thought that P.E. was the most silly subject ever. Never did I realize that twenty years later here in America, that the general populace lack it at all age levels.

Severals Asian have migrated here to the States. And never before have anyone seen the yellow squinty eyed people become obese. For many Asians, the staple of rice is still at the root of their meals. But many are gaining weight regardless of diet.

What's missing? The daily routine from our home country. Traded, are our farming occupation to clerical, cubed lifestyle of modern technology. I will agree that traditional fast foods is a contributor along with school lunches consisting of pizza and burgers - but I believe it is much more than that.

We, in a capitalistic country (aka democracy) is driven by the mighty dollar. Effeciency equates faster earning capability on numerous scales. Combine that with the power of marketing, you get a massive dose of of wants. Bigger, faster, newer, etc. etc. is now desired...in fact, a "must have" mentality as you are ranked higher in the social status the more of the latest that you've acquired.

Well how does this relate to obesity? It starts at the top. The main arena is focused on productivity and potential income. This equates to long work hours. In order to work long hours, you need to either increase stamina or increase effeciency. It's easier to increase efficiency through improved tools (air powered wrench vs. hand tool) than to longer hours with less effecient tools. In fact, it's cheaper for everyone. Competition dictates this, so everyone must conform in order to exist and be competitive. This whole effect trickles down to every aspect of life. Obesity is just a symptom of all this. I can probably name hundreds of other symptoms relating to this trickling effect of what competitive capitalism demands. Some extremists go so far as to claim that capitalism is evil by pointing out to varous problems that it causes. But the truth like many truths - lie somewhere in between.

Like all games, there are rules. Understanding and learning how to deal with these rules require compromises. The more rules, the more difficult and complex the game become. Hence, more depression, stress, less time in a day to deal in order "staying in the game".

I'm a single guy in his early 30's. My life not complex. I work an office job and have no kids or wife. I exercise 4 days a week...religiously. It's my lifestyle and I balance it well. I look at my colleagues that do the same job, but are married, have kids, sick parents, etc. etc., and their world is much harder to juggle than my simple single life. Their lifestyle demands it of them. The biggest thing going against them is time. Many ignore their physical well being in order to maintain their long list of responbilities.

America is the leader in having to deal with obesity - at all levels. It's not with just kids. We're waist deep in seeing what health risks are coming about. Every person has the duty of maintaining their health. And if you're a parent and have obese children, it may not be your fault, but it'll your problem. It's foolish to point fingers when you now have time to make your and your children's health a priority. I made time by taking on less responsibilty, and I will personally benefit as a result of it.

Those that want to stay in the game, need to either better juggle their priorities or they'll need to handle less responsibility better. You are accountable for yourself and loved ones. The only question is, what are your priorities and how much effort are you willing to put out in order to carry a successful and happy life.

here is what i am doing about the problem.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter. ... ifier=1477

When I see posts by people who ask what would be a good bike for them because they're big, say 5-11 and 250 just to toss out numbers, I want to welcome them to motorcycling and give friendly encouragement to lose weight for their own health and to better enjoy their bike. Anyone else think the same way? Would such a suggestion be OK in most people's eyes?

PackRider wrote:When I see posts by people who ask what would be a good bike for them because they're big, say 5-11 and 250 just to toss out numbers, I want to welcome them to motorcycling and give friendly encouragement to lose weight for their own health and to better enjoy their bike. Anyone else think the same way? Would such a suggestion be OK in most people's eyes?

My personal view, would be no. Motorcycling gets people out the house. Also large people tend (not all) to have low self esteem. learning to ride a motorbike is a great way to improve your self esteem. People treat me differently when they learn that I ride.

Maybe with more self esteem they will be better tasked to sort their personal health issues by themselves. Lets not deny people that chance, before they even start

PackRider wrote:When I see posts by people who ask what would be a good bike for them because they're big, say 5-11 and 250 just to toss out numbers, I want to welcome them to motorcycling and give friendly encouragement to lose weight for their own health and to better enjoy their bike. Anyone else think the same way? Would such a suggestion be OK in most people's eyes?

MMm, not so much. What you need is the person to make the connection on their own. It has to be a thing they decide to do as far as that goes or they will feel like they are being atacked or singled-out. I'm a Health Edu./Health and Fitness mjr. and there was a variety of ways to run programs based solely on the person's attitude towards it all. Ultimately, the person has got to want to do it or they won't change one bit. But if they do see it is something they want to change in order to do activities better, that's when you encourage, not with overboard pressure, but with a pleasant that-a-good-idea agreeance. From there you can take each step to get to a goal.


As far as obesity in America, I find the attitude about it sad and frustrating to the point of me saying 'Do what you want'. I realize that's not the best thing you want to ear from someone who should be educating and ultimately "battling" this "disease". For what it's worth, I think obesity as a "disease" is a cop out. I think its a new way to make people feel good about their problem. I think they let it get so far past the point of reversible they justify and make excuses and accept it.

In the world these days, a person like me cannot say anything about an obese person. And I say 'person like me' because I am 5'3", 110lbs of lean in shape lady. I am active, I do workout hard, I am proud I look the way I do, and I will not make apologies for how it makes obese people feel. I do take grief from overweight and obese people. I am made to feel guilty that "I'm lucky" I'm skinny. No, I'm not lucky (my family does have its share of overweight members), I'm a hard worker with some self control. I am not lazy. I do have some pride in myself. I am headstrong. I do eat plenty. I do drink. I do sit on the couch and enjoy relaxing. So I will not make apologies. I am in ths shape because I am mentally able to kep everything in perspective. I am mentally strong enough to fight through setbacks in training and life in general, and smart enough to understand that things do not happen overnight. Basically, I work my "O Ring" off and I won't apologize for it.


Eh, sorry about the rant, in this PC world, I don't get to let my thoughts on obesity fly that often, its so taboo.

On topic, overall, its the lifestyle. Kids need their parents as an example of being active. They need the history and genes from their parents. They need the mental setting that active is good. Active is fun and hugely, active is NORMAL. So, when does it start for your family? Who's going to be the begnning of a long line? Sure, its ok to eat. My family can cook it up with the best of them (crazy south texans)....BBQ ribs, chicken, tamales, hamburgers, fries, potatoes, beans, rice, pizza, beer, salad, sodas, pies, chips, fried everything....so on and so forth. Food will always be there. But you should have engrained that as easy as it is to eat, it should be as easy to go outside and shoot some hoops or play catch or do anything outside. Diet and exercise is a balance, no matter how cliche it is, its a fact of llife.

There's got to be a drive inside a person. A drive for competition, a drive for doing well enough to be the best, a drive to do it 100% until your body gives in. I don't think a lot of people have that drive. They quit when things get hard. You have to be able to fight through the walls to keep going and get your second wind. To many people are content to be satified. To many people are just content. I don't think contentment in itself is bad, but when you're content with falling short of your goals then there should be some serious soul searching. Nothing worth achieving is easy.

Obesity in America is the image brought to life on the grand scale, like a person, the problem starts small...a little love handle here, a jiggly roll there. Before you know it, you've been diagnosed with Type II diabetes and the doctors are talking about taking your foot. Couple the obese people problems with the elderly and the systemsthat support these groups are now severly taxed for manpower and funds.

The things that can be prevented should, but the ones that should take responsibility for that prevention are dropping the ball. Who is in charge of prevention?? Each individual person at his own personal health level. That's where it starts. Until people take personal responsibility (for nearly everything these days), things will roll down the crapper. You can blame the media, you can blame the food, you can blame the weather, you can blame your parents or spouse, you can blame everyone else, but the fact of the matter is people have no personal responsibility to change BEFORE it is a problem.